Phil Taylor played his first Pro Tour event of 2010 and swept to an impressive victory in the fourth Players Championship event of the year.
Fresh from his Premier League victory over James Wade, he was a convincing 6-1 winner over Terry Jenkins in the all Unicorn Final in Derby.
Taylor lost only six legs in seven matches in another masterful display.
He brushed aside the challenge of Steve Evans (6-1), Mark Hylton (6-1), Peter Manley (6-1), Andy Hamilton (6-0), Co Stompe (6-2) and a 6-0 semi-final win over Chris Thompson.
In the final, Taylor opened up a 2-1 lead but then banged in finishes of 108 and 124 and followed that with a 13 darter to move 5-1 in front. He wrapped up victory in the next leg on D2 after Jenkins missed darts at D20 to win another leg.
Jenkins best display came in the quarter-finals, when he came from 2-5 down to win a deciding leg against Steve Brown. And his run to the final was his best performance in a Pro Tour event for nearly a year.
Chris Mason’s comeback continued at a pace with a great run to the semi-finals before he eventually lost to ‘The Bull’. Mason beat Jelle Klaasen, Mark Webster, Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock and Michael van Gerwen along the way.
It was another mixed day for the rest of Team Unicorn.
There was another quarter-final for Jamie Caven, who appears to be growing in confidence all the time. He enjoyed some impressive displays before losing 6-4 to surprise package Chris Thompson.
Andy Hamilton’s run came to an abrupt end, when he was whitewashed by Taylor in the last 16 and James Wade’s struggles continued, as he was beaten by Jenkins 6-3 at the same stage.
In round three, Colin Osborne lost 6-3 to Mark Dudbridge, Adrian Lewis was beaten 6-4 by Irishman Brendan Dolan, Wes Newton went down 6-3 to Stompe and Peter Manley was a 6-1 loser to Taylor.
In the 2nd Round, Paul Nicholson was edged out 6-4 by Whitlock and Barrie Bates was lost by the same score to Darren Johnson.
John Part’s darting nightmares continued. He was one of six Unicorn players who all fell at the first hurdle. The Canadian lost a last leg decider to Nicholson and he still hasn’t earned money from four events on the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Also in the 1st Round, Arron Monk went down 6-2 to Peter Wright, Joe Cullen was a last leg loser against Richie Burnett, Kevin Painter was a shock 6-2 loser to Rick Lowther, Mick McGowan was beaten 6-2 by Vincent van der Voort and Anastasia lost by the same score in an all Unicorn clash against Newton.
Unfortunately, Kirk Shepherd was a 6-1 Preliminary Round loser against Andy Hutchings.
Results – 4th Round:
Jamie Caven 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Chris Thompson 6-5 Richie Burnett
Steve Brown 6-3 Robert Thornton
Terry Jenkins 6-3 James Wade
Chris Mason 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
Co Stompe 6-2 Louis Blundell
Phil Taylor 6-0 Andy Hamilton
Losers - £500
Quarter-Finals:
Chris Mason 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Steve Brown
Chris Thompson 6-4 Jamie Caven
Phil Taylor 6-2 Co Stompe
Losers - £1,000
Semi-Finals:
Phil Taylor 6-0 Chris Thompson
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Chris Mason
Losers - £1,500
Final:
Phil Taylor 6-1 Terry Jenkins
Winner - £6,000
Runner-up - £3,000
By STUART PYKE (Twitter @stuartpykesport)